CHAPTER 1. 



VOYAGE FROM ENGLAND TO RIO DE JANEIRO. 



Brazil, to which many travellers have for some years past directed 

 their attention, has the advantage of being separated from Europe by 

 one of the less stormy seas. There are indeed some months, espe- 

 cially about the time of the equinoxes, when this immense ocean is 

 subject to frequent tempests ; yet they are not, upon the whole, so 

 dangerous in these regions as in other parts ; as for example, in the 

 neighbourhood of the Cape of Good Hope and Cape Horn. 



I left London at the season when tempests have usually abated 

 of their violence, and we therefore looked forward with confidence 

 to a tranquil and pleasant voyage. Our vessel, the Janus, of three 

 hundred and twenty tons, left the Thames in the finest w eather ; and 

 we placed the greater faith in the prognostics of our crew^, on seeing 

 the evening sky tinged with the most beautiful red. We reached the 

 mouth of the Thames with a fresh breeze ; but it died away towards 

 evening, and we were obliged to come to an anchor. 



The first days of a voyage are commonly spent in making arrange- 

 ments on board, and contemplating the new objects that present 

 themselves to view ; consequently they pass away very quickly. At 

 day-break on the second morning after our departure, we had every 

 prospect of a favourable voyage. Large three-masted ships pursued 



